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Saturday, July 10, 2004

Show #55

I can’t drive 55!

All the audio from previous shows, including last week, is now up. Thanks for your patience.

International Sysadmin Day is July 30. We’ll talk gifts for your favorite System Administrator with Jen Frazier of ThinkGeek in the 2p hour today.

But all the rest of the show is yours! Call 1–800–520–1534 with your questions, comments, suggestions from noon-3p Pacific today and every weekend.

 toc | toc 

Our top news stories from this week:

• If you switched to Mozilla or Firefox for better security, not so fast. The Mozilla Foundation has confirmed that there’s a bug in the programs that allows sites to execute arbitrary code in Windows XP without user intervention. There is a patch for “shell:” exploit - download it now. Only Windows XP users are affected.

And that leads us to our poll question of the day: With all the security problems in Internet Explorer, have you switched to a safer browser?

• The Motion Picture Association of America continues to pump the hysteria, claiming that one in four Internet users has downloaded a pirated movie. Of those, 17% are spending less time at the theater. And in South Korea where broadband is nearly universal, 58% of users are downloading movies. According to the MPAA this “growing global epidemic” is costing the industry $3 billion a year.
• Speaking of piracy, 36% of all software installed worldwide last year was pirated, according to an IDC survey. The number is 27% in the US.
• The Los Angeles city council is cracking down on Internet cafés in the wake of several shootings in the San Fernando Valley. The new regulations require cafes with at least five computers to eliminate closed booths, install security cameras and bar minors during school hours to prevent truancy.

Get all the tech news delivered fresh daily on The Laporte Report.

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Noon-1p

Gail in Upland

is retiring and planning RV and boat travel. She and her husband may also be starting an online business. She’s looking for a Mac laptop. I recommend the 15-inch Powerbook with the Superdrive DVD recorder. Having a DVD burner is great for backup and I can imagine that she might want to make a video DVD of their travels. Almost any digital camera will work with her new Mac. If she’s looking for a good compact choice try Canon’s S500. A bigger camera with better optics is the Olympus 5060. She’s also looking to replace her Stylewriter with a printer/fax/copier combo. This can be tricky with OS X - many multifunction printers are not OS X compatible, or do not offer full functionality with OSX. Check the specifications carefully before buying.

I also recommend reading the reviews at PC World before buying. You’ll have to decide whether you want an inkjet or laser printer and look for one with built-in fax capability. Some rely on your computer’s fax modem. PC World likes the $300 Canon MultiPass MP730 but like many multi-function printers, it doesn’t work fully with Mac OS X. None of the Canons do. Apple recommends the Brother MFC-3820CN, HP PSC 2175 and 2410.

Wayne in Akron

was phished. According to Webopedia, phishing is the act of sending a fraudulent email claiming to be from a major company and directing you to an imitation web site that then collects your personal and financial information with the aim of ripping you off. Phishing schemes are up 700% this year. Emails posing as Citibank, AOL, and Paypal are particularly popular. If you get such an email, do not click the link in the email. Go to the relevant site by typing in the URL on your own - do not duplicate the URL in the email. Go to the company’s main page and navigate from there. If you do fall for a phishing scheme, assume your identity is being stolen. Put a fraud alert on your credit reports. You may even want to close your checking account if you gave up that information.

Karen in Calabasas

has a new computer on the way. She bought Aloha Bob PC Relocator to move the files over but she’s wondering if she really needs it. Aloha Bob is an excellent product. If you’re moving from Windows 95/98/Me to XP use it. It’s smart enough to know what it can and cannot safely copy over. Because she’s going from XP to XP it’s probably something she can do herself. Just copy the C:\Desktop and Settings folder from one computer to another. I don’t recommend Windows File and Settings Transfer Wizard - I’ve never been able to get it work reliably. However, it’s supposed to do mostly the same thing.

Her son bought a computer that was supposed to be 2.4 Ghz but seems to be running at 1.8 Ghz. You can use H. Ota’s free WCPUID to check the actual CPU speed. Remember AMD Athlon processors run at a slower clock speed than their “performance rating.” Intel processors should match the labeled clock speed. If they don’t it may be that the bus speed is set lower than it should be (you can check this in the BIOS setup at boot time). Or you may have been ripped off. Contact your vendor for an explanation.

George in Orange

is System Restore the same as Symantec’s Go Back? No. Go Back can restore everything including deleted files. Windows System Restore is designed to only restore missing or damaged system files. Go Back is a good solution for people who routinely screw up their machines, but it does consume considerable disk space. System Restore is helpful if you wish to back out of a driver install or undo spyware infections. Neither is a replacement for a good backup routine.

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1–2p

Tutorial: Email encryption

With the latest news that your email can legally be read by your ISP, the receiving ISP, and any server in the middle, encrypting email is even more important than ever before.

Securing your email can take two forms. An email signature can ensure that the message was sent by you and has not been tampered with (but it can still be read). You can send a signed email to anyone, but they’ll need some software to verify it, usually PGP. You can use PGP to sign mail (that’s what I do) or get a certificate from somewhere like Thawte.

Encrypting the email scrambles it completely so only the recipient can read it. To send an encrypted email you’ll first need the recipient’s public key. Many folks, including me, put our public keys on the various keyservers like keyserver.pgp.com and keys.pgp.net. Your PGP software should be able to search the servers for an appropriate key.

• For free PGP software visit PGP International You can also get a free version for non-commercial use from PGP Corporation.
• Thawte offers free email certificates suitable for signing or encrypting.
• An even easier way to send secure email is Hushmail, a web based email service. Hushmail offers free and paid encryption services.

now on with the calls…

Andy in Maine

wants to know why and when to map a network drive. Drive mapping is simply assigning a drive letter to a network drive. Having drive letter access makes it easier to find drives, and is necessary for some applications. To map a drive, open My Computer Click Tools→Map Network Drive… and select the drive letter and the network resource.

Todd in Massachusetts

says his boss bought a Linksys Wi-Fi router which failed suddenly. That can happen - it may just be a bad unit. If it happens again get a UPS to protect it from power surges and brown-outs. I recommend APC UPSs.

Greg in Mission Viejo

is infected by spyware. His symptoms are a slow Internet Explorer, hijacked home page, and excessive pop-ups. I have to write a how-to on this subject, but meanwhile start by killing any viruses and trojan horses by booting to a CD with an up-to-date antivirus and disinfecting the system. You can also use online antivirus checkers like Housecall from Trend Micro and Panda’s ActiveScan.

Then remove spyware using the free AdAware and Spybot S&D. Update both, scan and remove all the infections you can, then turn on the immunization feature of Spybot. Removing browser hijackers is tricky. Read up on hijackers at SpywareInfo.com. You may need to use a dedicated tool. Start with Hijack This.

I recommend using Mozilla or Firefox to avoid future hijacking. If you must use Internet Explorer install Spyware Blaster to block future infections.

Ruth in Buena Park

had a problem with rechargeable alkaline batteries. She used her NiMH charger to recharge them and they exploded! Rechargeable alkaline batteries are not the same as NiMH rechargeable. You MUST use an approved charger with them. Read the Ray-o-Vac FAQ on rechargeable alkalines. They do not recommend them for digital cameras - stick with NiMH. But they are good in situations where you won’t use the battery for a long time - like flash lights. NiMH leak their charge and discharge over time. Rechargeable alkalines, like regular alkaline batteries, hold their charge for up to five years. On the other hand, don’t run a rechargeable alkaline down completely; you won’t be able to recharge it.

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2–3p

Daniel in Nevada

here’s a recipe for Daniel’s Klah (based on the fictional Dragons of Pern) from the from the chem labs at UMass Boston.
Also another recipe from Spokavriel. (Spokavriel is Daniel in Nevada)

Holly in Newport Beach

bought the Epson R-200. She’s unhappy with it. I recommend the Canon i960 for excellent photo prints.

Mark in La Morada

is having a problem with Nikon on warranty repairs. Here’s a list of authorized warranty repair centers.

John in New Jersey

wants to watch TV on his Mac. Try the [http://www.elgato.com/ EyeTV]] from El Gato.

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